NRL launches plan to grow rugby league across Pacific islands

Jarryd Hayne played for Fiji in the 2008 World Cup and scored a hat-trick against them in the 2013 tournament.

AFP: Glyn Kirk

NRL chief executive Dave Smith says the huge number of elite players with Pacific island backgrounds can help grow rugby league in the region.

Smith announced the code's new Pacific Strategy on Wednesday alongside Jarryd Hayne and Sonny Bill Williams and said the high-profile pair has helped increase popularity of the game into an area that has been predominantly a rugby stronghold over the years.

Dual international Williams, who was part of the All Blacks' Rugby World Cup-winning squad in 2011 and helped the Sydney Roosters win the NRL premiership last year, is a huge name in Samoa, the birthplace of his father.

Hayne represented Fiji in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup and credits his time with the team as the catalyst for changing his life away from the field and becoming one of the game's best players.

Williams, who is recovering from a broken thumb, will fly to Samoa this weekend to kick-start the program while Hayne is due to fly to Fiji after the Eels' NRL season.

"We've been thinking for a while how we might develop the game," Smith said.

"Nearly 40 per cent of our players are from the islands so I think it's important to recognise that and the development potential there is important for the game.

"I think it's very possible that we could see a team from the islands in the World Cup final in 2017."

Hunters making inroads into Australian landscape

Papua New Guinea - the only country in the world that has rugby league as its national sport - had a team in the Queensland Cup this year, and the Hunters have more than held the their own.

Smith said it was too soon to talk about having a team from the Pacific in the NRL but believes there is an opportunity to help introduce football clinics and education programs for children, in addition to fostering better community links with local governments and businesses.

"PNG has been going for about a year now and has been incredibly successful," he said.

"It was about the time being right and having so many players who want to give something back.

"We'll be working in tandem with respective governments and making sure as the community benefits come through everybody plays their part," he said.

"The opportunity for us as a game to make people's lives better in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and PNG is phenomenal and the rich flow of players coming into the game means it is worth the investment."